Blues remain on top, Canucks climb in NHL Power Rankings

Scott Cullen12/16/2013 4:35:35 PM

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The St. Louis Blues continue to hold down top spot in the TSN.ca NHL Power Rankings. The Blues reclaimed the number one ranking last week, then won all three of their games to stay ahead of the surging Los Angeles Kings and the falling San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks.

Moving up, from nine to five, the Vancouver Canucks are ripping through December, winning all seven games this month, thanks in part to stellar goaltending, as Roberto Luongo has a .962 save percentage in his last five games.

Making the same four-spot jump as the Canucks, the Anaheim Ducks are up, from 10 to six, as it has been eight games since the Ducks suffered a regulation defeat.

Also climbing, the Phoenix Coyotes go from 12 to nine, though some of that is merely overtaking Pittsburgh and Boston teams that have been ravaged by injuries.

The Bruins fell, from eight to 11, because of injuries decimating their lineup and certainly not for winning four of their last five.

Four wins in the past dozen games knocked the Minnesota Wild down to 12, from seven; they also scored three goals in three games last week.

Winless in five, while scoring a total of five goals, the Detroit Red Wings slipped from 14 to 17 and the Columbus Blue Jackets sunk from 20 to 27, despite going 4-1-1 in their last six, because they are down to their third-string goaltender after injuries hit Sergei Bobrovsky and Curtis McElhinney.

Across Canada, the Montreal Canadiens slid a couple of spots, to seven; the Winnipeg Jets lost a couple places, to 18 and the Toronto Maple Leafs are up a couple from 21 to 19 after Joffrey Lupul returned and they surprised the Chicago Blackhawks Saturday night.

The Ottawa Senators can't make consistent progress, yet managed to move from 23 to 20 as injuries knocked some teams below them in this week's rankings.

The Calgary Flames may have fired their general manager, but they have been playing better lately, so they keep climbing from 24 to 22, staying one spot ahead of the Edmonton Oilers.